Human Error

Here's something I've often pondered: why are things hard to do? I mean really. Why do we as musician miss notes even after hours and hours of practice? How are mathematical concepts hard to learn? Why does it take such talent and training to play a sport professionally? Why is it so difficult to come up with a decent thought to write about?

And these aren't just rhetorical questions, either. Over the next twenty minutes (and probably some more while drinking coffee in the classroom half an hour before class) I'm going to try to work out some “answers” but that opening interrogative paragraph is honestly just as much to spark “discussion” (as much discussion one can have with three readers) as it is to set up the rest of this entry.

Let's take the first example to start. A lot of us have taken music at one point or another in our lives (speaking outside of said three readers here). We all know how it goes. You practice and practice and practice and then you go up on stage and miss notes left and right. How? If you already know what notes to play, then where does this disconnect come in between your brain and your hands? In fact, it's often almost assumed that a musician can learn the notes to a piece quickly enough and all that's left is the interpretation of those notes (which is a whole lot let me tell you). Basically, a purely mechanical function shouldn't be difficult to someone properly trained.

Obviously with a beginner you would not start them with one of Rachmaninoff's piano concertos, pieces which are often considered the hardest piano pieces in the world (I've seen the music and I agree). Not because the difficulty merely comes down to a mental disconnect but because they have not learned the technique. With the technical side of piano playing there are certain manoeuvres that are not immediately obvious or intuitive and yet do work well. Case in point: my piano teacher showed me two days ago that crossing over the top of my hand in a given scenario was actually the best way to go about playing it. Did those notes instantly sound better? Yes. Was what I was doing before wrong? No. This goes back to there being no “wrong” in music (except for wrong notes but that's not the point....wait...yes it is).

Going back to the original topic, however, in my little rambly bit just now I was in fact trying to make a coherent point but wound up only confusing the matter further. If we say that it comes down to a lack of knowledge for the most part (which was the point I was trying to make) then how do we miss notes even when we do have great knowledge of the piece? Obviously this is not as much the case as when we first look at a piece but the point still stands.

What about math, now? Math is basically logic in its purest form. We've also all been there too; suddenly you realize you had no idea what was going on as of two weeks ago. Again, why? Why is it that a simple form of logic can be elusive to our minds? First there is the obvious point that math builds on itself. If I tried to teach you logarithmic differentiation without first teaching differentiation on its own we would be wasting our time. But differentiation just uses algebraic concepts. Therefore if one has already had the building block of algebra placed, differentiation should be easy enough to master. And yet at the same time, I doubt I could manage to get my brother to absorb that information and know how to use it.

Well, that's all the time I have here. I may continue this. I may.